The present invention relates to firefighter pants and more particularly to a novel construction at the knee portion of each pant leg to afford greater freedom of movement when the firefighter flexes his knees.
Firefighters perform many challenging duties when fighting fires which require bending of the knees. For example, they climb ladders and are often called upon to bend over and sometimes crawl from one place to another. Such activities are very difficult if there is any tendency for the pants to bind at the knees. This problem is compounded due to the fact that firefighter pants include an outer shell which is fire-resistant and water-resistant plus a detachable inner liner including a moisture barrier layer and a heat-resistant layer. This construction is quite bulky and heavy and restricts movement of the firefighter.
Since the knee areas are continually flexed while fighting fires, it is important to provide increased freedom of movement of the knees of the firefighter. It is noted that conventional means of providing increased flexibility of the knee portions of garments such as folds as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,099,875, tucks as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,552 or accordion pleats as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,213 are not suitable for use in firefighter pants since these constructions are liable to be caught and torn by objects encountered while fighting a fire. If the pants are torn, the integrity of the pants is destroyed and the firefighter is not adequately protected. Therefore, such prior art constructions are not suitable for use in firefighter pants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,242 discloses an arrangement wherein a pair of firefighter pants is provided with a separate generally elliptically shaped bellows at the knee portion of each pant leg, extra material being provided in a direction parallel with the long dimension of the pant leg to provide extra space for the knee of a firefighter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,454 discloses a separate insert which is attached over a rectangular opening with extra material being provided in a direction parallel with the long dimension of the pant leg.
The disclosures of the latter two patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These two patents disclose constructions which require extra pieces of material and more stitching, thereby resulting in a more bulky and expensive construction. Furthermore, there is a greater possibility of leakage at the knee portion of the moisture barrier included in the liner of the pants.
It is therefore a principle objective of the invention to provide increased freedom of movement at the knee portions of firefighter pants in a simple and inexpensive manner to provide a less bulky construction requiring less stitching and eliminating the necessity of providing extra inserts while further ensuring that there is no leakage at the seams of the moisture barrier of the liner.